Bob Probert arrested in Florida

He was arrested Friday in Delray Beach after a scuffle with Florida police that led to Probert being shocked with a Taser gun.

Charged with battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest with violence and disorderly conduct, Probert was held without bail at the Palm Beach County jail.

While playing for the Detroit Red Wings in the 1980s and early '90s, Probert served a prison term when he was caught trying to carry cocaine into the United States from Canada. He also had an alchohol problem and was charged with numerous driving offences.

Probert was placed on inactive status for the 1994-95 season after he was involved in a motorcycle accident and tests showed alcohol and cocaine in his system.

Delray Beach police officers first spotted Probert on Friday as he parked his white BMW sport utility vehicle the wrong way on a downtown side street and began hanging out of his window to yell at several men just before 1 a.m., officers said.

Four officers intervened when Probert, a native of Windsor, Ont., got out of the car and tried to start a fight with one of the men, according to a report. He then fought with the officers and refused their orders to drop to the ground, the report said.

As two of the officers struggled to handcuff Probert, officer Thomas Tolbert shot him with a Taser gun and he fell backward. But Probert resisted their efforts when they tried to handcuff him, so Tolbert used the Taser to stun Probert several more times.

The gun shoots barbed probes that give the recipient a usually non-lethal but incapacitating shock.

After Probert was shocked, officers handcuffed him and took him into custody.

"He was so combative in our jail that we didn't take a booking photo of him because we didn't want to struggle with him again out of handcuffs," police spokesman Jeff Messer said.

Probert, who turns 39 on Saturday, listed his home address in Chicago and a business address at the Colony Hotel and Cabana Club in Delray Beach. A hotel employee said Friday that he was no longer working there.

Probert reluctantly hung up his skates in November after 17 seasons with the Wings and Chicago Blackhawks. He scored 163 goals and 384 points in 935 games, and ranks fourth on the NHL's all-time penalty minutes list with 3,300.

He began working as a Blackhawks broadcaster, but three months later the NHL announced Probert was seeking more help for a substance abuse problem.